Senator Dorgan (D-ND) Retiring
Via the WaPo — Senator Byron Dorgan announced today that he would be retiring at the end of his term:
North Dakota Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan will not run for re-election later this year, creating a major pickup opportunity for Republicans.
“After a lot of thought I have made the very difficult decision that I will not be seeking reelection in 2010, ” Dorgan wrote in a memo to staff distributed this afternoon. “This decision is not a reflection of any dissatisfaction with my work in the Senate, nor is it connected to a potential election contest next fall (frankly, I believe if I were to run for another term I would be reelected).”
Dorgan was facing a potentially serious re-election race against Gov. John Hoeven (R) in November. He was first elected to the Senate in 1992 and, despite the clear GOP lean of the state, hadn’t faced a serious re-election challenge since then.
Dorgan is the first Democratic senator to announce his retirement this cycle. Six Republican senators, in Florida, Ohio, Missouri, New Hampshire, Kansas and Kentucky, are not running for re-election in 2010.
I’m not so sure that this is much of a surprise (Dorgan was a question in 2004) and certainly much of the media is having on about how bad this is for Democrats. At least some things do not change. Dorgan is one of he good guys (mostly) and certainly way more progressive than Conrad. Dorgan correctly called the catastrophe that would happen by repealing Glass-Seagall and was at the forefront of the effort to dismantle the regulations against re-importation of prescription drugs.
The real thing that isn’t much of a surprise is that Democrats will not have a 60 vote majority after the 2010 election. The repubs won’t get control of the chamber back, but some seats will be lost. There is some speculation of getting Earl Pomeroy to run, but frankly I think that this seat may be one to let go (provided Hoeven does indeed run) and concentrate on the many seats where it is possible to pick up to hold the line.
Tags: 2010 Election, Byron Dorgan
And Bill Ritter is expected to announce tomorrow morning that he will not run for a second term as Governor of Colorado.
And so is Chris Dodd: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/chris-dodd-to-step-aside.html
For the record, I beat Drudge by 5 minutes!
Well, Drudge IS set in 1943. but congrats all the same
indeed, but he does get scoops. I got it off a twitter @thefix
Big day for Democratic shake-ups: Dorgan, Dodd, Ritter. Michigan Lt. Governor John Cherry also announced he’s dropping out of the governor’s race. I think Dodd and Ritter are probably falling on their swords, they were going to have a lot of trouble anyway. Dodd’s retirement makes a Republican pick-up in Connecticut less likely. The ND Senate seat is likely to go to a Republican, I don’t think there’s any Democrats there besides Pomeroy who I doubt would want to give up his cozy seat for an almost-sure loss.
Dodd retiring is actually great news, for now the Dems will retain his seat with the AG Blumenthal. North Dakota is lost to whatever Republican runs for it, most likely Hoeven.
I do not understand Ritter at all.
Off to collect their winnings from the insurance industry.
Falling into the waiting embrace of the private sector must seem a hell of a lot more welcoming than facing the disgruntled Dem base that they crossed up with the HCR vote.
Given the current Senate, replacing any Senator is a good thing. It would be better to replace them with Democrats, but only marginally better.
I have voted straight Dem my whole life, but now I am starting to get a serious anti-incumbency itch, at least for the Senate.
In today’s Senate, the more turnover the better.
Dorgan is a big loss though. Dorgan accurately predicted the consequences of the repeal of Glass-Steagall back in 1999:
Republicans taught us that you can stop anything with only 41 Senators. If Dems are fated to lose the Senate, at least let us start over with new Dems who have absorbed that lesson and are willing to block a right-wing agenda even from the minority.
Oberle to hang it up? http://www.daveburris.com/rep-bill-oberle-to-retire/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DaveBurriscom+%28DaveBurris.com%29&utm_content=Twitter
Ed Schultz Asked To Run For Senate
Hotline On-Call ^ | 01/06/10 | Reid Wilson
A top ND Dem has asked MSNBC host Ed Schultz to return to his native state and run for Senate, Schultz said today. In an interview on MSNBC, where he hosts a nightly program, Schultz said he got a call from state Rep. Merle Boucher (D), the House Min. Leader, asking him to consider a bid. Schultz said he had worked hard to get where he was in his career, but he refused to rule out a bid. “I’m flattered. I’m honored. I can’t say that I’m even considering it right now,” Schultz said.
Lizard, what point are you trying to make with that comment? that another aged annoying MSNBC anchor (i only really like Keith and Rachel) is publicly and coyly not running for office? so what?
it’s news, more information to mix into the discussion. no secret message or code.
The Obama Purges Begin
joytiz.com ^ | 1/6/10 | Joy Tiz
The demands of complete subjugation to the democrat party and its leader have proven to be too much for several key democrat hacks. Two senators and one governor have abandoned plans to run for re-election in November.
Most notable is the contemptible and entirely corrupt undeserving beneficiary of dynasty politics, Chris “Countrywide” Dodd, architect of much of America’s financial crisis. The felonious Dodd is waxing lyrical about his personal woes, including the death of his Waitress Sandwich partner, Ted Kennedy.
The more plausible explanation for Dodd’s abrupt decision is that he became yet another casualty of the Chicago Way. Dodd’s complete inability to stay out of sleazy self- serving deals made him an easy mark for Rahm Emanuel. No doubt the former ballerina gave Dodd the option of not being prosecuted for multiple felonies in exchange for his bowing out of the November senate race.
Some democrats will surrender rather than face the disgrace of vanquishment by huge margins in November and lack of party support. Dodd, however, has proven himself entirely unblushing when confronted with evidence of astonishing ethical lapses.
Obama doesn’t want Dodd’s scandals and low approval numbers jeopardizing a democrat seat. Any democrat perceived as a political liability or putting up resistance to the radical party line would be wise to do some resume updating.
Republicans can savor the moment, but shouldn’t get too giddy. The party has a real flair for losing entirely winnable elections.
******************************
(to quote a local radio guy “conspiracy, it’s better than sex”)
Ha! Cut and Pasting a hyperbolic, conservative (i know, redundant) opinion (read: wishful thinking) piece as some sort of fact is as impressive as a two-inch turd.
la-la-la-lame
Wow, now Chris Dodd is the cause of the financial crisis? What about ACORN? I’m having a hard time keeping up!
It’s being reported now that ND democrats (including Dorgan) have contacted MSNBC host Ed Schultz about running for the seat. That might make an interesting race!
As far as the Ed Schultz thing goes, apparently ND has a rule mandating five years of residency before running for Senate, and Schultz has lived in MN the last few years, so nothing from that.
And yeah, lizzie, how do you not see that crap like that completely negates your assertion of just bringing “news” and “information” into the discussion? That was nothing but paranoid ranting. I realize that that’s what passes for “news” on the Right these days, but still. Think about it for a minute … If Obama had enough power to banish Senators that he didn’t like, don’t you think he’d use that influence to get a few more to vote for a better HCR bill?
Thinkprogress has the report and the update on Schultz.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/01/06/ed-dorgan/
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee is mounting an effort to try to get Dorgan to change his mind.
Maybe Don Obama can use his Chicago Style
PizzaPolitics on him and make him an offer he can’t refuse. Apparently he and Rahm control who’s in the Senate.Oh right!
I forgot about the Godfather
pizzaconnection.